GRT2014 Day 5 - Odessa, TX to Wilcox, AZ

515 miles today; 1998 total

I wanted to make sure I got plenty of space between me and the Lone Star state! I put another whole state between us. Seriously, it was quite the challenge to get out of Texas! 

I was so excited to finally be almost in New Mexico after 3 nights in Texas. I was 9 miles from the border, cruising along I-10, when - AACK!!!! - the road was closed!!! Traffic at a dead stop. Oh I could have cried! I was so close - so close - to finally getting through Texas! Eventually we wound our way through the detours and finally got across the border to NM. A couple of miles later .... NO NO NO it can't be! Stopped again!  Border crossing checkpoint.  I was sure I would get caught in a Texas vortex and it would pull me all the way back there. 

Once we got going again, I kept driving until I was an acceptable distance past that way-too-big state. "Far enough" turned out to be Arizona.  I had a reservation in Las Cruces, NM, but got there so early that I cancelled that one & kept on driving. As a result, I'll get to sleep in tomorrow since I'm only about 3 hours from my brother's place. Oh! And now I'm in Mountain time zone. Of course I never know what time it is in Arizona because they don't change time, so sometimes they're on California time and sometimes they're on New Mexico time. (Do YOU know when you're on savings or standard time? I don't!)

At least I took some pics today, so I'll leave you with those.

Here's a little of what I see on the road:

When I checked into my hotel tonight, I grabbed these shots quick before the scenery got too dark. I was in the parking lot, so sorry about all the poles. The sunset was beautiful!

Thanks for stopping by.